The Special Service Brigade was a formation of the

British Army during the Second World War At the start of 1939, the British Army was, as it traditionally always had been, a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with those of its ene ...

. It was formed in 1940, after the call for volunteers for Special Service who eventually became the

British Commandos The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Initially dra ...

Background

In 1940, volunteers were called for from serving British Army soldiers within certain formations still in Britain and men of the disbanding Divisional

Independent Companies A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

originally raised from Territorial Army (TA) divisions and who had seen service in the Norwegian Campaign. In November 1940 these army units were organised into a Special Service Brigade under

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

J. C. Haydon with five Special Service battalions. By the autumn of 1940 more than 2,000 men had volunteered for commando training, and the Special Service Brigade now consisted of 12 units which were now called commandos.Haskew, p.48 Each commando would number around 450 men, commanded by a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

. They were divided into

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

of 75 men and further divided into 15-man

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

. The Commandos were all volunteers, seconded from other British Army

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

s, but they retained their own regimental

cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as w ...

s and remained on their regimental roll for pay.Moreman, p.12

Formation

The Special Service Brigade consisted of five Special Service battalions, numbered one to five.Moreman, p.18 These Special Service battalions were eventually re-named commandos. The No. 1 Special Service Battalion became No. 1 and

No. 2 Commando No. 2 Commando was a battalion-sized British Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The first No.2 Commando was formed on 22 June 1940 for a parachuting role at Cambrai Barracks, Perham Down, near Tidworth, Hants. The unit ...

s. The No. 2 Special Service Battalion became

No. 9 Commando No. 9 Commando was a battalion-sized British Commando unit raised by the British Army during the Second World War. It took part in raids across the English Channel and in the Mediterranean, ending the war in Italy as part of the 2nd Special Service ...

. The No. 3 Special Service Battalion became

No. 4 Commando No. 4 Commando was a battalion-sized British Army commando unit, formed in 1940 early in the Second World War. Although it was raised to conduct small-scale raids and harass garrisons along the coast of German occupied France, it was mainly empl ...

. The No. 4 Special Service Battalion became

No. 3 Commando No. 3 Commando was a battalion-sized Commando unit raised by the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in July 1940 from volunteers for special service, it was the first such unit to carry the title of "Commando". Shortly afterwards the ...

. The No. 5 Special Service Battalion became No. 5 and No. 6 Commandos.

Commando brigades

In 1943 the commandos started to move away from smaller raiding operations. They had been formed into

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

s of assault infantry to spearhead future Allied landing operations. Of the remaining 20 Commandos, 17 were used in the formation of the four Special Service brigades. The three remaining units No. 12, No. 14 (Arctic) and No. 62 Commandos were left to carry out smaller-scale raids. But by the end of the year these three commandos had all been disbanded, to supply replacements for the other commando units. The formation of the brigades was: * 1st Special Service Brigade with

No. 3 ''No. 3'' () is a 1997 South Korean gangster comedy film starring Han Suk-kyu as the titular no. 3 man of a gang who's aspiring to rise up the ranks and become the leader of his own gang. It was writer-director Song Nung-han's feature direct ...

, No. 4, No. 6 and No.45 (RM) Commandos. * 2nd Special Service Brigade with No. 2, No. 9, No. 40 (RM) and No. 43 (RM) Commandos. * 3rd Special Service Brigade with No. 1, No. 5, No. 42 (RM) and No. 44 (RM) Commandos. *

4th Special Service Brigade The 4th Special Service Brigade was a brigade-sized formation of the British Commandos formed during the Second World War in March 1944 from battalion-sized units of the Royal Marines. Due to the success of the British Army Commandos' operations ...

with No. 10 (Inter-Allied), No. 41 (RM), No. 46 (RM), No. 47 (RM) and No. 48 (RM) Commandos. The previous Special Service Brigade Headquarters was replaced by Headquarters Special Services Group under

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Robert Sturges. The four brigades were to destined to serve in different theatres of war. The 1st and 4th brigades were based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and destined for service in

North-western Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, Northw ...

. The 2nd Brigade was based in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

for service in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. The 3rd Brigade was based in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

for service in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

.Joslen, p. 455.

References

* * * {{British Commando units of the Second World War, state=collapsed Military units and formations established in 1940 1940 establishments in the United Kingdom